Hype about the stock market is at an almost overwhelming level today. Which, while appealing to those few last people to “jump in at the top” we don’t think will pay off very well.
While it’s nominally true stocks are at new highs, a closer look ignores a few simple facts.
- First is that the old highs were set when everything – even the Bitcoins – hit records (the real ones) back on November 8, 2021.
- Since then, inflation has driven the prices of just about everything up. So if we add in two years of 4 percent inflation, we are still 8 percent short of (tying) actual records.
- Curiously, our meta index work over the last 25-years topped out in 2021 at 41,953.86. At the Wednesday close, stocks (as an aggregate, based on putting equal dollars into three major indices in 2000, landed at 41,360.37. A bit under 600 points to the upside are needed, as you can see.
- But when we add 8 percent to the current stocks level, even a “double top” compared to 2021 would infer at least 45,310. Which is actually even higher than that. If you missed business school (and saved thousands in the process!) percentage gains aren’t Additive. They compound. For two years the actual compounding of4 percent inflation is 8.16 percent…but let’s not be picky.
- To us, we are still NOT at an overall economic high. And frankly, if keeping the Mexico border wide-open to walk-ins and letting the neolibs light up additional war fronts all over the world in order to light a fire in the defense industry is what it takes to even hit a “double top” on a purchasing power parity basis, don’tcha think that’s kind of stupid?
Around here, we think it is.
The problems ahead in 2024 arise from the embedded contradictions of capitalism. Compound interest – with enough compounding periods – eventually gets to infinity. Government’s small misdirection’s eventually compoounds into massively corrupt delusions. And the rate of national indebtedness is going to the moon while personal incomes aren’t even to liftoff.
All this means somewhat has to take the hit. This is at the core of cyclical economics. Kondratiev long waves and our own work suggesting an 83–100-year cycle where the economy implodes when what was once “money” became passed-around debt ducats.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the Dollar will be down to only 3-percent of its purchasing power compared with when the banker coup (the Federal Reserve) seized financial control when Congress abdicated its Constitutionally mandated money role in 1913.
There’s a reason Islamic banking makes sense and why people are punished for “interest” and “usury.” A few simple thought experiments in closed populations will demonstrate that interest inevitably makes for buggered currency. While America feasts on compounding debt – now into the quadrillion’s, while not a fan of the rest of what they’re selling, Islamic banking is the only economic system (since we abandoned gold and silver convertibility) that is capable of sustaining through economic decline.
Don’t get me wrong: America has been a great place as long as there was GROWTH. Because with growth, you can expand your need for currency and that covers up a lot of financial sins. But, instead of fix the “too much paper sloshing” we are presently on a path to where once the printing has to change, we will be stiffing the world’s investors. People like Chinese bankers won’t stand for it. Middle East (Islamic bankers) wont – in the very long term – keep accepting “dollars” that fritter away to nothingness as additional debt is piled into them.
What will happen is one of two things: We can work out an admittedly painful migration path back to “sound money” but it would mean lower standards of living, higher taxes, and reductions in government benefits. Keep in mind there are about 10-years before Social Security will have to be cut, too. Because the current breakeven rate is about 76 percent of current (purchasing power parity) benefits, last time I looked.
Which is why UrbanSurvival has been published for more than 25-years now, and Peoplenomics about 20-years. Because it’s our reckoning that in the event of social collapse, if you dial-back your demands and work on personal independence, there won’t be any noticeable fall when the rest of the world falls apart when the economic House of Cards falls over.
Or, alternatively, the unholy alliance of crooked bankers and neocons turned neolibs to cling to policy control land us in World War.
Not to be sour this morning, but that’s our view of things.
We have been patiently tracking the Replay of 1929, which was a replay of the 1873 depression in America. There were issues in the 1840s, as well. There are bubbles and panics, manias and malinvestments, but the big picture as of Wednesday’s close was this:
The three green boxes show how the Elliott wave progression works and we can literally fall apart at any instant in here and not break a single rule.
Backing out to the ultra long-term view, it’s just as bad, too:
As you can (or should?) be able to see, there’s a kind of harmony with past economic crisis. But the present run from the March 2009 lows during the Housing Bubble collapse has been quite remarkably long. There are many reasons for this, but importantly, AI and the Internet have all had a hand. See, the Bubbles blow up when there is a high level of information asymmetry. If the information moves faster in an economic system, a couple of things can happen: You can go higher in the same period of time (*without collapsing) or you can go longer. Or you can get both.
It’s hard to quantify this complex relationship (unless you think in multi-variatese). But it’s against this backdrop that we move along toward a rousing year-end encounter with the Future.
Inventories and Newly Unemployed
Statistics are inedible and unspendable. But step right up since they feed the soul and the shopper’s delusions!
Advance International Trade in Goods
The international trade deficit was $90.3 billion in November, up $0.7 billion from $89.6 billion in October. Exports of goods for November were $165.1 billion, $6.2 billion less than October exports. Imports of goods for November were $255.4 billion, $5.5 billion less than October imports.
Advance Wholesale Inventories
Wholesale inventories for November, adjusted for seasonal variations and trading day differences, but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $895.7 billion, down 0.2 percent (±0.2 percent)* from October 2023, and were down 3.1 percent (±1.1 percent) from November 2022. The September 2023 to October 2023 percentage change was revised from down 0.4 percent (±0.4 percent)* to down 0.3 percent (±0.4 percent)*.
Advance Retail Inventories
Retail inventories for November, adjusted for seasonal variations and trading day differences, but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $794.9 billion, down 0.1 percent (±0.2 percent)* from October 2023, and were up 5.1 percent (±0.7 percent) from November 2022. The September 2023 to October 2023 percentage change was unrevised from the preliminary estimate of down 0.1 percent (±0.4 percent)*.
(Gee, imports down so inventories go down…’mazing, huh? Seems logical if we don’t make our own products anymore, though?)
New unemployment filings should be edging up a bit, we were thinking:
And as for what states were winning and losing in the latest reporting week?
Hopefully you weren’t among the losers.
War Checks
Here we go again. Glacial speed until “over in a flash.”
Let’s start with Ukraine. Which, if you’d forgotten has a large, generally kicked-around Russian-speaking population, which is one of the reasons Moscow went into Crimea. Because of extremist Ukrainian abuse of those indigenous peoples.
On the surface we’re told that we’re supporting “democracy” but somehow that doesn’t sound honest when you read Russian Pro-Peace Candidate, Barred from Vote, Will Create Own Party (kyivpost.com). In the meantime, though, the Buyed’em administration keeps raising taxes here to give away money there: US releases fresh $250 million aid to fund Ukraine’s war against Russia.
But while Sloppy Joe seems to love borders for Ukraine, we don’t see him geting off his ass about the flood from Mexico. With more on the way. All we’re seeing is talk and pardon us if it has a stockyard stench to it: Mayorkas, Blinken meet with Mexican president to talk migrant crisis amid massive numbers, new caravan.
Mexico, our narco state next door, at least as the sense to put up a good front: Mexican officials clear border tent camp as US pressure mounts to stem migrant influx. While the demoscraps of Biden’s War Party don’t like to mention that Migrant Border Crossings This Year Outnumber Populations of 17 States.
Next War?
Oh, shit, pick one.
We know the North Koreans are authoritarian nuts but even they might have a point in North Korea’s Kim Jong-un vows to bolster war readiness to repel U.S.-led confrontations.
Who, us?
Neocons, blowing up the two-state solution but still having failed to goad Hezbollah into attacking Israel seem not to be giving up: Israel threatens to attack Hezbollah if world fails to halt attacks from Lebanon.
Ukraine and the Brain Pain
My consigliere called Wednesday to remind me that Pearl Harbor back in 1941 was no surprise to anyone. The U.S. you see, had been supplying American aircraft to China which was using them to attack Japanese targets and Japan was trying to take over China. The war before the war, if you want to think of it that way. Anyway, he’s of the opinion that the story F-16 fighters fly in Ukraine: How Kiev can now provoke Russia-NATO conflict – The operational scenario they are studying in Moscow is in many ways the same deal, all over again. Just with different countries as a plug-n-play this time.
Something to think about while shopping for welding goggles for the inevitable at some point.
Political Idiocy
Wasn’t cured overnight, no sir. And the virtual signaling, heads up ass press is doing all its left of level best can to inject race into elections. Stories like Nikki Haley declines to say slavery was cause of Civil War during NH town hall – NBC 7 San Diego (nbcsandiego.com) and Nikki Haley declines to say slavery was cause of Civil War during NH town hall – NECN overlook that Haley also failed to discuss her views on quarks and the Higgs Boson, as well. Are they effing kidding me? This is made up, manipulative shit, White attacks as their worst.
Meantime, they finally got around to it: Colorado GOP asks Supreme Court to restore Trump to ballot.
And what’s this, raising dough for expenses? Former US President Donald Trump Reportedly Dumps $2.4M Ethereum (thecryptobasic.com).
Did I mention BTC was trading earlier today around $42,868 so going nowhere into year end?
Around the Ranch
Cold weather is back and under freezing again tonight and for the rest of the week looks like. Some precip ahead, but ENSO is acting oddly and our weather too, as a result. No, not global warming, at least as far as we can see. Weather has some in-built variability, you know.
Says over here (PowerPoint Presentation (noaa.gov))
“In October and November 2023, SST
anomalies increased in the central and
east-central Pacific.
Since early December, the growth in
SST anomalies has slowed, but positive
anomalies persist.”
(Do we need to prompt that SST is sea surface temperatures?)
Normal weather in 2024? Nope, that’s another thing I wouldn’t be in a hurry to bet on. Might want to model how that changes up international radiation fallout models, though…
Write when you have something glowing to report,
George@Ure.net
In 1971 McDonalds ran an add for a meal with change from your dollar. It was 2 hamburgers fresh and a coke for .75 xcents.
yesterday I checked the price for the same meal and it was over 13 dollars. It figured out to be over 1800 % increase. Good times.
The 1971 burger was probably burger and not glued up pink slime substitute.
The Coke was still made with sugar and not high fructose corn syrup substitute.
The French fries were probably real potatoes and not manufactured.
Yesterday I noticed a new fast food/quick serve joint is opening. The location is between a Chipolte and Panera Bread so different from the old school Taco Bell/Burger King row.
Pay scales were listed.
$16.00 /hr for flunky.
$18.00 /hr for mid-level flunky.
$22.00 /hr for assistant manager.
$72,000 /yr for manager.
Wonder why they didn’t just say manager was $35/hr?
Because they work more than 2,057 hours per year.
You have been too successful for too long Big Al! Go back to the early days and first jobs…
The con for the low end is “We’re putting you on salary” which is f/u for “Work your ass off for more hours, foo!”
The manager is on salary and probably works more than 40 hrs/week.
Here.. to make rent.. just the rent and nothing else.. is about six dollars clear per hour..
assisted manager at the gas station is thirteen dollars an hour.. flunky is twelve..
at the nursing home starting wage is twelve now.. last year they were paying less than ten.. food housing everything is up more than fifty percent..low income rent in a nice neighborhood is over a grand a month.. the grand daughter pays 2500 for a three bedroom plus utilities etc.. she makes thirteen dollars an hour.. her daycare with govt. assistance is over two thousand a month.. no benefits..
interesting thing the Alchemy Wizzard said to me last night about dreams. he said, you never feel sad or pain in dreams.
i said i hardly ever remember my dreams. but the ones i do remember?
it never occured to me that is true. i never feel pain or get sad in dreams.
pretty cool observation.
i love that realization.
hell Loob – current accounts of US Govmint indicate MORE $$$$ for illegal aliens on Welfare in Total than resident Americans are getting this year.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/illegal-immigrants-anchor-babies-using-more-welfare-american-citizens-report – this only applies to the ILLEGALS(ill Eagles?).
You my friend are either not Brown enough or Ure not bending over frequently enough, nor far enough over for, “Uncle Pedo” to get really deep into Ure Asz..reminds me of andy in shawshank..BOHICA!
Might try on Ure back – maybe that will help ez the discomfort some..
Keep the Faith!
bwahahahahah
The working poor are living in their vehicles if they have one.
“The working poor are living in their vehicles if they have one.”
Yeah EAR one of the gents that lived in our spare bedroom.. Lived in the dumpster behind the television station…. sad but true.. a really nice guy that hit on hard times..
I have made up the couches for people through the years so much it was disgusting….Only because a loved one needed medical treatment.. the medical industry took it all..
dont eat fast food. its not good for you. its not real food. i cant eat it. every time i do i get the shits for 3 days.
im going to stay on the mountain until april and then decide. then i will have my MSHW Engineer License for driving Ore Trains. like my CDL. its an ace up my sleave. no matter where i am or what is going on. i can always have a steady good income keeping ahold of that. and my certs to run backstage security. if i bounce before april, i will have to start all over to get my MSHW Eningeers license.
now $964 a week on unemployment and a free place to stay in Beverly Hills sounds like a super good deal.
but long term, once i have my MSHW Engineer License to Drive Ore Trains, My CDL and in April get my Commercial Pilots license.
plus my Background in High Profile Cliant Security, my stellar reputation of being a Hard worker, and Man of my Word, coupled with my relationship with THE DUDE.
i can go anywhere in the world, walk in a place and have a Job, either driving Trains, Big Rigs or Flying Planes. lol
so i will return to the Mountain and finish that out, then in april possibly head to Arizona to get my pilot license.
unless THE DUDE has other plans. lol. Which HE may. haha
on a personal note. my buddy the Alchemy Wizard said exactly the same thing verbatium as the Dao Bum with my recent experiance of getting sick as i approach some buildings. He said Experiances the same thing with Government buildings.
George you said Rekoning. i hear that alot with reguards to 2024. there will be a rekonkng.
i still see Justice and Judgement as the tarot themes for 2024.
but i do hear Rekoning alot in refrence to 2024.
with that. im heading back to the mountains. to contemplate things. meditate and run giant tonka trucks till the snow melta and then Trains.
oh and George, my buddy Jeff who is the Alchemy wizzard will stop by urban survival at some point. his new book is amazing. He is big on Dream work. i said You need to talk to This other old dude i know, George. He wrote several books too. One on dreams.
my buddy the Alchemy wizzard (who is an old dude too) said He would come check out your sight.
He is the only person i can sit at the table and have a 3 hour debate and (time melts away) about the Roles the Esseens played in Christianity and How the Political parties of the Gnostics got involved and capitalized on it. hahahhaha
he also the only person i have ever handed a Book, A versian of the Talmud written completely in Old Arimaic, and he opened it from the right side and started reading from right to left, bottom of fhe page up.
most people open the book from the left, start at the top and right left to right. and dont know a word that is written. and that is not how you read Old Arimaic.
:)
so i did a plug for ya George.
have a Happy New Year. i know i will.
“so i will return to the Mountain”
Steppenwolf 7
Foggy Mental Breakdown
Hear me holler down the mountain side
I’m near the sky blinking at the evil eye
Hear me holler at the city’s grind
It stole my soul just about lost my mind
https://genius.com/Steppenwolf-foggy-mental-breakdown-lyrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCR4sdlfhFQ
Hey Andy
I’ve been listening to some old tunes, kinda whistling while I work. This came on and I thought, “That sounds like Andy.” Dude, I love to hear your Wondrous stories …
https://youtu.be/i3fIgHIO1-w?si=cG7AiodsUhMLB8Ph
Have a great day, Buddy
LOL LOL you must live in a state that has really good insurance.. here you wouldn’t ever get the unemployment.. and then if you were a seasonal worker.. the payout is 250 a week or every two weeks.. not very much.. the only ones I know that ever got it.. was during covid..and they had to pay every dime back once they got a job again….
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/FullTalmud.pdf
https://www.amazon.com/Babylonian-Talmud-Translated-Introduction-Commentary/dp/1107676959/ref=sr_1_2?
https://www.forgottenbooks.com/en/download/TheTalmud_10003192.pdf
https://ia804706.us.archive.org/8/items/ourstoryofatlant00phel/ourstoryofatlant00phel.pdf
https://www.forgottenbooks.com/en
there fixed that for ya.. you forgot to share it ..What is in it is shared in countless other books.. some much older…. in the end.. it all boils down to a simple set of laws and rules.. If you follow Christ and his teachings.. he lays out the simple rules that the heavenly father wants us to follow real plainly.. my thought is.. man made it so complicated and put in so much crap that it took bringing christ to the earth to re-establish the basic guidelines.. IF.. he hadn’t of been crucified.. history would have forgotten his teachings.. as just some nice guy that helped others..
If you follow the Saints the ones that we bring up so often in religious ceremonies.. they lived very turbulent and corrupt lives..Not the kind of person that should be idolized like we do today.. but that they pushed the teachings of those in power at the time is the only reason that they achieved sainthood…. then again that is a different discussion..
https://famguardian.org/Subjects/Spirituality/Corruption/The_Talimud_Unmasked-Rev_I_B_Prenaitis-1892-92pgs-REL.sml.pdf
some of what is taught in the talamund is..
Jews do not regard non-Jews as human beings
the Talmud contains blasphemies against Jesus and offensive passages about Christians
Judaism despises non-Jews
the Talmud urges Jews to do a variety of harms to Christians, such as murder and theft,
teaches that each death of a Christian serves as a substitute for the Temple sacrifices, which would then hasten the arrival of the Jewish messiah.
here is the basic outlay of the talamund…
Chapter I. Christians are to be Avoided
Art. 1. Christians Unworthy to Associate with Jews
Art. 2. Christians are Unclean
Art. 3. Christians are Idolaters
Art. 4. Christians are Evil
Chapter II. Christians are to be Exterminated
Art. 1. Christians to be Harmed Indirectly
1. By not helping them
2. By interfering in their work
3. By deceit in legal matters
4. By harming them in things necessary for life
Art. 2. Christians to be Harmed Directly
1. Renegades to be killed
2. Apostates
3. Princes especially the Prince of Rome (the Pope) to be exterminated
4. All Christians to be killed
5. Killing a Christian is an acceptable sacrifice to God
6. Heaven promised to those who kill Christians
7. A Christian may be beheaded on the most solemn festivals
8. The Messiah expected will be revengeful
9. Jewish prayers against Christians
10. Christian prayers for the Jews
KInd of like the muslim suicide bombings…. if you are a child or woman and do suicide bombings.. then you get seventy four virgins.. and the family is given a few bucks for your sacrifice LOL LOL then we wonder why there are so many times that people comment on the jewish people spitting on christians on the street over there.. they live the old laws..
All in all the talamund is not a book I would share with anyone.. the basic laws of heavenly father are in it but .. very hard to find them in all the other crap that is in it..
similarly the Torah is filled with the same human interpretations and intentions.. I believe that is why there are so many different sects of the Quran.. and why they all hate each other.. it is like our various christian religions.. that interpreted different segments of the same books.. and got something different out of all of them.. when the DUDE.. or Mrs.. put down the laws for mankind.. mankind thought heck this isn’t enough let me elaborate on this.. and did.. The Talmud contains awful, awful stuff that Jews don’t like talking about outside of Jewish circles. Like the fact that it’s considered ok to have sex with babies and the children of gentiles. The Talmud is absolute garbage IMHO… how they got by with it all these years is by putting in the proper teachings and then elaboration of them to change the teachings themselves..
PHew.. got me all wound up on the talamund LOL I will shut up now..
Too much for the flunkies, not enough for the manager…
McD pays $11 around here, but offers full in-State tuition + book allowance and highly-flexible hours.
LOL LOL LOL LOL … Hmmm that may depend..
When I worked at the cabinet shop.. they had tuition assistance.. and book assistance.. if you kept your grade level up.. I was going to go to school.. I had an equivelant to two years of college credit on the books from challenging the tests at GWU.. just to get to go take a class I was interested in..
anyway I signed up took the paper work into the office.. so how will this benefit your job… I gave my list of positives.. NO how will this education IMPROVE your job..
so how would paying for books and tuition assistance help someone whose job is shaking the oil off of the french fries.. LOL LOL LOL
most companies only have those programs just like the condo’s in the tropics and the cruises and the vacation packages.. is only for management.. I fear that those programs are not the french frie shaker.. burger fryer LOL LOL
Here’s the 1971 McDonald’s “change back” commercial.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FcLzn3feBsE
LOL I didn’t know they had fountain pop back then we always got chocolate malts.. LOL LOL
I use to take the older grandkids around on a bike ride.. we would stop there because children got a free ice cream cone.. so several times a week either the wife or I would take them for ice cream.. a big mac.. .99 cents all day long.. french fries..less than fifty cents.. I went in for cheese burgers.. two fries and a big pop and it cost me sixteen dollars..
My Wisconsin hometown McDonalds had the LAST 15 cent hamburgers in the nation. There was a meat processing plant in town and the franchisee kept prices as low as he could for as long as he could. Wish I could remember the date. It was a century ago…
“There was a meat processing plant in town”
There was a hot dog stand.. best hot dogs in town LOL gotta love this story.. anyway they sold the best chili dogs around… the chili.. I found out later why they had to close.. was made with DOG FOOD… LOL LOL LOL
of course that was back when any dog food that went out the door had to go through a human taste test..
In Honolulu there was a classy hole-in-the-wall place called “Hank’s Haute Dogs” (no relation). Claimed the finest ‘encased meats’… and had a really great bratwurst.
“The Colorado Republican Party says it has asked the US Supreme Court to overturn the unprecedented state Supreme Court ruling that removed Donald Trump from Colorado’s 2024 ballot.”
We are back to personalities over principles. Why have a Supreme Court at all? (We just need A SC. It’s the way it’s always been.)
The Colorado Chief Justice of the Supreme Court pulls $16,999 a month.
https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Administration/HR/Compensation_and_Benefits/FY23%20Comp%20Plan%20Update%2007012022(1).pdf
I’ll flip-flop for $16,999 a month.
I think you could also get what they called the All American at the same time or perhaps in the mid 60’s which was a cheesburger, fries and a coke……..
yup the all american was under a dollar.. the comercial said all this ( malted milk not pop ) and get change for a dollar..
My wife and I use to stop off for breakfast at a place.. you got steak ham or sausage two eggs hashbrowns two cakes or toast your choice coffee and it was 1.99… it was called the american farmers breakfast.. another restaurant had what they called the grand slam… for under two dollars as well..
I had two cheeseburgers fries and a pop.. that was under five dollars three years ago it was three times that now and they charged me extra for the ketchup ….
Now you can’t get a “malt” i.e. Malted Milkshake anywhere anymore. Malt was even dropped from the Dairy Queen menu during Covid. Wonder why. Love the flavor and gave it a little semblance of being healthy.
Malt BTW is Malted (ie Sprouted) dried and ground wheat germ. I still like some wheat germ on my vanilla Ice cream.
Black & White “malted” – my fav, and go to every time.
Nilla ice cream wit Chocolate Sauce, WHOLE milk, malt = Nectar of the Gods.
I still get em at malt shoppe in Hersey PA – Chocolate Town, USA. Also get get em at the local “greasy spoon”, where they just started, last year, accepting Cards/electronic payments.
The “mom & pop” ice cream places and small chains all over the Midwest and South serve malts.
Drive past the DQ until you see the weathered “Dairy Dream,” “Dairy Isle,” “Jones’s Ice Cream,” “Smith’s Dairy,” etc. sign, then stop in and have some real ice cream. If you get that malt, it’ll likely be made with a Hamilton Beach milk-shake mixer that’s older than you.
I still make malted milk shakes.. here at home.. we have an old malted milk shake maker.. I bet I have made several thousand malts.. the grandkids are always asking me to make them..
https://www.amazon.com/Old-fashioned-Malted-Hoosier-Hill-Farm/dp/B00BW0FRWI/ref=sr_1_7?
Now I love a good chocolate malted milkshake.. rosies diner still has them and there is another place that still makes them..
but at home.. I make them all the time.. one grand daughter she loves Vanilla malted milkshakes.. one loves strawberry.. the majority love chocolate..
https://www.ebay.com/itm/196154550206?
One day I overheard the kids arguing about who gets the malt maker when we die.. I thought dam.. I won’t have my kids arguing over crap.. so I got one for each of them.. that one tool is probably one of the most used utensils we ever got.. got it from a restaurant that was closing over forty years ago.. it was old then LOL
the other thing.. shaved ice.. slushies.. LOL
each of the kids has something that they adore.. my mini me is going to be a first class tool slut LOL he has a pretty nice set now.. and unlike me.. he knows exactly where they all are LOL LOL
Teen cruizing daze in some friend’s car. I always got the DQ ‘Creme-de-Menth MALT’ in the large (half gallon?) cup. That was my dinner as we cruized the town for hours, sometimes playing with the CB radios. It was good to be young and invulnerable. I shudder to imagine what that would do to my gut now….
“Teen cruizing daze in some friend’s car. I always got the DQ ‘Creme-de-Menth MALT’ ”
Dammit Hank.. that hit a sweet spot with me LOL now I have to go make one LOL LOL
Used to get a quality steak dinner at the El Cortez In Vegas for $3.99. After 40 years in the institutional Bond Biz tomorrow is my last day. Just remember “Chain of Custody”
If you wanted to do a lookback over 30 in “bondage” on the PN site, start writing!
Congrats out before collapse!
I remember the Denny’s commercial for the Grand Slam – “a dollar ninety nine are you out of your mind?”
“We can work out an admittedly painful migration path back to “sound money”
?????? CAN WE ?????
Look at the deficit.. before the interest on the debt began doubling.. it was what.. To pay off the national debt and all of its contracts in a three-year period, we would need to pay off approximately $11.29 trillion per year. The population of the United States is approximately 332 million per every man woman and child for a three year period.. or 116 million per working hour for every man woman and child and that is doing away with everything .. no more military no more social security no more road repairs no more wars.. no fire departments.. no schools.. or school teacher wages.. any place the government is involved with financially would end instantly.. ..AND that is not counting the accruing interest on the debt yet.. just the debt as it stands..we are talking about life in San Francisco on steroids here..
Its the illusion that this can be dealt with.. that they sell everyone..
“Next War?
Oh, shit, pick one.”
I have always thought.. that the one they would let lite this thing up.. would be KIM in NK.. my observations were that while everyone was busy all over the globe.. let Kim give the go for it signal..
when my kids were little we would have a coupon lunch. There were 29 cents coupons for fast food. we would get fries at one place, burgers at another, and occasionally drinks at a third. my kids loved it.
when the grand kids were little the restaurants that we went to offered free till age five.. then it was four cents till age twelve..
“Something to think about while shopping for welding goggles for the inevitable at some point.”
The wife made a decree last night.. she said.. the next improvement you make here.. has to be light increased over the counter..
seems as we are aging it gets darker at that spot.. so.. new lights going up.. I have the same issue over the stove.. so next week I will put in track lights.. I just have to convince my son in-law to come over and put them in.. did a check and the cost of the whole thing will be under two hundred dollars..
I did that to my kitches when I moved into this Volcano Ranch. A strip of track lights to spotlight the stove and the work counter, as well as general lighting. Populated with LED lights, the whole thing runs 22 watts. The trick is to have the light coming in from the side over your shoulder. So you avoid casting your own shadow over your work area.
great tip thanks Hank.. I was going to put the lights so they shined back towards the counter.. I will change that plan right now…
I put some led strips under the cupboard above the counter
“I put some led strips under the cupboard above the counter”
I like that Idea to Darrell.. I will look for a couple of those as well.. I have one in the garage.. that I love.. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to put a couple of those up as well
I think most here would like this SF book:
https://a.co/d/1lRbJ9S
Different and current and explanatory and patriotic and electronic.
I have that one on kindel
Friend and associate of yours? He looks like definite Urban Survival material. I’ll bet he and George could go back & forth on antenna design for hours…
For a minute or three I thought Schantz could be your nom de plume because your backgrounds are similar, but alas, you live over 500 miles apart and he has his own academic pedigree.
BTW I agree. I bought the book…
Hi Doomers!
You’re all still in my timeline, so that’s got to be something good.
Something to cheer you all up : on what happens next year – preparations for a new & better age
https://benjaminfulford.net/preparations-begin-for-a-new-bretton-woods-and-new-age-merry-christmas/
(demise of the electric car, take down of wind power, end of Ukraine war, etc). Maybe with hydrogen replacing batteries, it’s time for palladium to shine?
i’m not sure if this is related:
https://qofficial.net/password
(the message changes from time to time)
Count-Down…., Three Days – Eight Hours – ’til what ?
Happy NEW YEAR..
https://www.youtube.com/live/ftSapEDSBr8?si=NrqqF9yVPa_mJBPW
The ball drop.
Site was built by a couple attractive Asian 20-somethings with English names. It links to “Q Official” on X, which seems to be a conspiranut site. The authors look Japanese, but he could be part Korean and she, part Thai. She’s also had her (very large, very pretty, brown) eyes Anglicized. They run a small merch site which I didn’t bother locating…
I in no way am trying to be rude. But has Ben Fulford had any credible predictions that have come to pass ?
Does he still get a commission on how many times he mentions “The Kazarian Mafia” ? Or , “the arrests are happening right now”….
It is almost as often as our George mentions ‘nuclear flashes’ !
dont forget his mythical White Dragon Society -bwahahaahah
1st class fraud = completely full of scheisse
how anybody still reads his fantasy tripe..CLOWN
pop Quiz,,
tell me the truth
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1739725238357606733?s=20
Okay – Ill let Alex do the deed, since you asked..
https://twitter.com/i/redirect?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FRealAlexJones%2Fstatus%2F1740132186970304816%3Fcxt%3DHBwW4MS1qaTAmKYwAAAA%26cn%3DZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%253D%253D%26refsrc%3Demail&t=1+1703748147887&cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%3D%3D&sig=e99f7e9cda94003fbf8828f3815545402cf90b88&iid=3838a20529784faba1475897469b6120&uid=858669640981020672&nid=244+276893704
They really do F-ing HATE IT when this replayed by “Normies”
pity the ds
..NERP!
pure GOLD,
the look on that lawyer’s face,,, priceless
and the judge also
can’t put that cat back in the bag
“But when we add 8 percent to the current stocks level, even a “double top” compared to 2021 would infer at least 45,310. Which is actually even higher than that. If you missed business school (and saved thousands in the process!) percentage gains aren’t Additive. They compound. For two years the actual compounding of 4 percent inflation is 8.16 percent…but let’s not be picky.”
So, what is it when you add 60 percent to the current levels? Over the past two years, non-durables have gone up ~31.5% and ~27% respectively. The fact subsidized car prices have only gone up 8.16% is irrelevant to me, as I have yet to figure out how to eat a car. I liked my (ca.2020) $1.69 ground chuck — not so fond of the (ca.2023) $7.99 ground chuck…
“Or, alternatively, the unholy alliance of crooked bankers and neocons turned neolibs to cling to policy control land us in World War.”
The neocons didn’t turn into neolibs. They were always libs.
“Neolibs” are the kiddies who’re carrying the pro-Palestine and pro Osama bin Laden signs, who’ve been programmed through TikTok (et.al.) and are becoming good little worker ants for Father Xi.
Sorry, busy trying to deal with non debt ownership of debtor filled association of voters. Demanding payment of house insurance on the way to quadrupling in 2 years without any bargaining power. .. want to buy and
Not own seems to be the looters idea..
Sounds like a practical demonstration of “democracy…”
“Political Idiocy
Wasn’t cured overnight, no sir. And the virtual signaling, heads up ass press is doing all its left of level best can to inject race into elections. Stories like Nikki Haley declines to say slavery was cause of Civil War during NH town hall – NBC 7 San Diego (nbcsandiego.com)”
I hope you didn’t just notice this. The “press,” which has been somewhere left of Khrushchev and his boss since the 1930s, is never fair or honest toward Republican or conservative candidates. FOXNews started out that way — being right down the middle, and was harangued and panned by everyone and everything for being “hard Right Wing.” FOX only seemed Rightist, because we’d been fed Leftist crap for generations, and most people couldn’t see where the centerpoint of the bias line was, any more (if ever.) FOX did have Right-Wing talkers, but they were opinion pundits, not news anchors, and the Leftist networks had them too. People forget Tucker was a rockstar on MSNBC and Lara Logan was a “60 Minutes” anchor, long before they went to work at FOX. Since the old man bailed, FOX has moved Left, and no-one noticed, ‘cept Logan got canned for calling Fauci a NAZI, and Carlson got the boot for displaying big brass ones and a sense of fairness, once too often…
We noticed.
Geesh, we noticed it all.
Remember Fake News?
The whole nation and World noticed.
96 percent of all news media is owned by 4 corporations.
So much for Choice.
We noticed.
According to a new poll mentioned tonight on FOX, 3.4% of reporters, anchors, editors, directors, managers, involved in the news business are Republican.
I would venture to guess that about half of these are also conservative.
I’d say what percentage are Leftist, but this is a numbers site, so everyone here should be able to at least do these numbers.
Please bear in-mind the next time the government releases numbers, that we get all of our mainstream news, weather, sports, AND FINANCIALS, from these propagandists. Everyone who doesn’t delve into the raw and reconstructed numbers is both trading blind, but you are putting your faith in these commie miscreants.
THINK…
Read a well written article about a year ago where the author made a very good case for the true reason for the Civil War.
Basically , the slave states were destroying the non-slave states with their near non-existent labor costs.
Money. That’ll start a war or two…
It was reducing sales of the machine making states from Connecticut through the Ohio valleys
they had to keep the business model going..
the TRUTH ?
Payseur vs Rothchild War
In 1840, a single male slave, strong-built and in his early 20s, cost between $3800 and $4500, or 190-225 ounces of gold. After one purchased his slave, he’d then have to feed & clothe him, and tend to his health for the next 40 years, or so.
I’m gonna venture to say the Southern States’ labor costs were considerably higher than “non-existent…”
today we have minimum wage LOL LOL LOL or wage labor.. same thing.. just that you can change your owners.. the more money you make in a wage labor.. the worse they feel they can treat you LOL LOL
I worked with a refugee that came to the USA just to make enough money to buy a herd of goats and twelve wives.. he thought I and another guy that worked should be put to death for letting women tell us what to do .lol lol
A wife sold at that time was under 20.00..A virgin was worth more.. he got federal subsidies while here to..
he was fired when he told the administrator that if they were in his country she could be flogged or put to death by telling him what to do lol.. my response was..and you didn’t call me..I would have paid to see that exchange..
Didn’t the british side with the South? Wasn’t that a bad idea to north who fought them a while back.
“… the banker coup (the Federal Reserve) seized financial control when Congress abdicated its Constitutionally mandated money role in 1913.”
And FEW voters did raise hell then !!!
So what’ z the use of explaining it ??
It is what it is–useless voting anyhow.
My advice: Love yourselves next year.
Sad news, RIP;
“Gaston Glock, the Austrian engineer who went from making curtain rods to manufacturing some of the world’s most popular handguns, died Wednesday at the age of 94.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/12/27/glock-founder-death/72042173007/
We could have been so much more…,
., but that’s not the way it turned out. From the beginning of written history mankind had decided on war and self-annihilation as the path it would take. Even Heaven had it’s wars. It was a “grand experiment” – doomed from the start. We never stood a chance.
Here we sit on the eve of a New Year.., and nothing has changed. War and rumors of war abound. Predictions of global holocaust fill the air., and it seems many are even hoping for it to happen. “So, we can start anew”. Been there – done that. Many times. Look back, World War Two taught us nothing – except how to kill more people faster and more efficiently. And we can. We have progressed to the point that we can eliminate our entire species in under an hour., and eventually take most of all living things on the planet with us.
As a species we have failed., miserably. We have progressed technologically…, yes – but our heart and soul are thoroughly corrupted. By whatever measure you care to use.
Personally, I have very little hope, or faith that we can change in time to pull us out of our own self-imposed extinction. Far too many have their finger on that big red button and are searching for an excuse to push it. ., and it is horrifying to think that so many ‘want’ to push it.
2024. I have no real idea what lies in store for all of us. I do know what I see around me., and have seen fleeting glimpses of., but that means nothing. Not really. It is what I see.., not necessarily what ‘you’ see. Nearly every ‘prediction’ for 2023 turned out to be wrong [ How ‘did’ Biden survive ?] So., just how many predictions for 2024 will come to fruition? Again., I have no idea – I do hope that most of them are wrong., for most of them are nothing more then the slaughter-of-the-innocent predictions., and most of those go hand-in-hand with hate, ego and greed. i.e. – not to be believed.
2024 is looking like a very interesting year. A nasty, darker rehash of 2023? .., or does someone push the button? Both ? In either scenario take care of yourself and your loved ones – help out where you can., if you can [ if you even want too.,] and let us hope we can have this conversation [ any conversation ] this time next year.
– P.S. I had only two “predictions” for this year – both did not happen.
– P.S.S. – My chili has won three chili cook-offs. I stopped entering when it became mandatory to give up my recipe to enter. [ I am not just going to hand-over a couple of decades of trial and error..,] Thought it was time to make a big pot [ it’s cold., wet and down-right yucky..,] – along with my Tex-Mex corn bread. Just returned from the store – and the cost of my chili is up 3.2 times the cost from two years ago. So.., i’ll be making a ‘cheaper’ pot. Corn bread priced out the same.
“let us hope we can have this conversation [ any conversation ] this time next year.”
A post of good hope is very welcome!
My predictions:
There will be no WW3.
Peace will prevail and the hate will melt away.
The 1% will become the 0% and wealth is redistributed as the money system is rebooted.
amen my sentiments exactly..
Never one to disappoint – here is THE BCN big prediction for 24,
DISCLOSURE
“CATASTROPHIC DISCLOSURE” ,
no more easing the population in on it, slowly walking Humanity into the realization they are ALL Zombies.
Limited or Restricted as they are to the 5 main Senses – their enSlaved existence is truly one of saddest things to contemplate in this time and place in our MilkyWay.
Ever wonder how come no one ever asks WHY, the UFO’s crash? Who shot them down ? Not like their tech failed!?
Think “bad ET’s trading Technology directing/instructing AF to shoot down certain “good ET’s?
Everything is in place, ready and waiting..the only question that remains for 24 is WHAT will be the SPARK that Ignites Catastrophic Disclosure worldwide ?
too exciting, no?
Got a pew-pew (plasma disruptor)? Lazers & Goggles? they luv their “sparklies’/dazzlers. Its Mind Engagement time..
Dammit d’Lynn! ‘Secret Recipe Chili’ and cornbread. I just had breakfast and now you made me hungry all over again. I’m not creative with food. I’m a ‘grazer’… whatever is available. But I love good food I don’t know how to make!
I went to the local building supply to get TWO 1×12 clear pine boards 8 ft long. I thought I was going to have to take out a home loan. $31. +change each! For a shelf to put shoes on in a specific place for the middle one that graduates college this spring then to grad school. My 2003 3/4 T diesel only has 110,000 miles. Engine not even broke in yet. New the same vehicle is over $90,000.00. Started out at $32,000.00 but no inflation. Wally place. 1 bag 46 lbs dog food, salad, bananas, 2 sausage, 1 bx biscuit mix, qt buttermilk, pint 1/2 and 1/2, and maybe couple more items.
$100.00 No inflation! Would you like a diplomatic passport to the State of Mass Confusion? or delusion? 1lb field peas 3.50. Crowder peas ?? 10.00 lb if you can find them. Red beans 2.50+ .25c box of Jiffy corn bread close to 1.00 now. Now sing after me BABY YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET! HEARS SOMETHING YOUR NEVER GOING TO FORGET!
Happy New Year!
“$31. +change each! For a shelf to put shoes on in a specific place for the middle one that graduates college this spring then to grad school.”
My daughter loves shoes.. omg.. shoes shoes shoes.. when she moved out and got married she left hundreds of pairs of shoes.. so I boxed them up.. and when they were gone I would take them to their house and placed them neatly in their basement.. that was what almost twenty years ago now.. and some of the boxes have not moved since then LOL or been opened..
you can make something like this out of cardboard boxes.. pretty easy..
https://www.wayfair.com/Greyleigh%E2%84%A2–Highlandville-32-Pair-Shoe-Rack-X114684446-L3763-K~W003573335.html?refid=GX685056875925-W003573335_245892265&device=c&ptid=371612945420&network=s&targetid=pla-371612945420&channel=GooglePLA&ireid=192892862&fdid=1817&PiID%5B%5D=245892265&gad_source=2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoZu2pcW3gwMVxkp_AB39EwyEEAQYBSABEgKT9vD_BwE
all this talk about malted milk..
how about an altime favorite.. malted milk balls..
yup even the toddlers will get a good time out of making them..
6 ounces white chocolate chips
6 TBSP malted barley extract OR 8 TBSP Malted Milk Powder, more may be needed to stiffen the dough
6-8 ounces milk chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips for dipping
directions..
1 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, waxed paper, or foil
2 over very low heat melt the white chocolate in a double boiler or a large bowl over a simmering pan of hot water
once melted remove from the heat and add EITHER 6 Tablespoons of the malted barley powder one TBSP at a time, stirring well after each addition, keep adding powder until the dough is stiff enough to roll into balls
you can use the malted milk drink mix to.. but then use 8 TABLESPOONS one TBSP at a time, stirring well after each addition, keep adding powder until the dough is stiff enough to roll into balls
let the dough cool about ten minutes then check to see if it needs more malted barley powder, roll a small ball about 1/2 inch or so, if it holds it’s shape with minimal flattening then you’re ready to roll, if not add more malted barley powder as needed to make a ball that will hold the shape
roll the dough into small 1/2-inch balls and put on the prepared pan,
Freeze these for about a half hour.. just to cool the dough down..it also helps the melted chocolate to harden quicker.. you can use the shell mix chocolate to.. for ice cream cones etc.. for this next dipping section.. if you use that then a fondue set is perfect.. take a long skewer to use in the dipping process
Next melt the chocolate chips over very low heat in a double boiler until thoroughly melted
dip the malt balls into the chocolate and return to the cookie sheet
when all the balls are dipped in the melted chocolate cool in the fridge or freezer
then store in an airtight container in the fridge
let them warm for a few minutes before eating
its the simple pleasures that are the best.. if you really want a surprise then you can make a peanut butter dough to..
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup of powdered sugar..
Now usually you make a smaller ball with the peanut butter dough then put it inside a flattened round piece of the malted milk dough and roll it into a ball.. then coat with the chocolate..
enjoy and have fun.. another variation is to mix the two doughs together.. your choice its your taste buds.. do it your way and enjoy..
god bless and have fun with the kids.. Easter is coming.. what a treat anytime and you will find that you never can make enough..